NY Corrections Dept. Settles Maternity Benefits Case
for Almost $1M

May 23, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced it has
reached a settlement with the New York State Department of
Correctional Services on charges that it provided inferior
benefits to employees on maternity leave.

Under the court-approved order, the Corrections
Department will provide $972,000 in compensatory damages,
liquidated damages, back pay, and interest to 23 female
Corrections employees. The order also contains a
provision whereby the court may issue monetary relief to
additional victims who are identified following the
settlement, the EEOC announcement said.

The EEOC suit, filed under the Equal Pay Act of
1963, charged that while the Corrections Department gave
both male and female employees with work-related injuries
up to six months of paid workers’ compensation leave,
pregnant female employees on such leave were
involuntarily switched to maternity leave at or around
the time they gave birth. The EEOC charged that switching
women from workers’ compensation leave to maternity leave
resulted in lesser benefits for those women due to their
sex and thus violated the Equal Pay Act (EPA).

According to the announcement, the U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of New York joined the lawsuit
by adding claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, saying the practice was an act of discrimination
on the basis of gender. The U.S. Attorney’s Office
alleged that the discrimination occurred when Corrections
transferred pregnant employees from workers’ compensation
leave and benefits without making a determination
whether, on an individual basis, the employee continues
to be eligible for workers’ compensation leave and
benefits.

The settlement order also amended the Department’s
workers’ compensation directive to provide that no female
Corrections officer shall be removed from workers’
compensation benefits due to pregnancy or the birth of a
child.